Witnesses claim Israel fired at crowd waiting for aid
Witnesses in Gaza City said that Israeli forces opened fire on a crowd of desperate residents attempting to pull food out of an aid convoy, The Independent reported.
The Hamas-run Health Ministry noted that the IDF’s ruthless actions on February 29 killed over 100 people and roughly 760 were wounded.
Obstructive Israeli forces have been turning down a significant number of aid parcels to the enclave meaning that the risk of famine increases day by day. For weeks now, Gazans have been living on animal feed and studies have found that one in four families are already experiencing famine-like conditions.
Israeli officials, on the condition of anonymity, claimed that the IDF only started shooting when the crowd approached in a “hostile manner” and that many were killed and/or injured as a result of “pushing, trampling and being run over by the trucks.”
The residents tried to pull flour and canned goods from the truck.
On February 28, a major aid delivery reached Gaza’s north. A delivery of this kind has not entered the enclave in months.
READ: Red Cross voices concerns over hunger in Gaza
Israel’s callous war on the besieged territory since October 7 has killed in excess of 30,000 people and 80% of the population have been displaced. It is said that one Gazan resident dies every four minutes.
The hostilities drew condemnation from neighbouring Egypt whose Foreign Ministry said, “It is a heinous crime to target peaceful civilians who are rushing to get their share of humanitarian aid.
“It is a flagrant violation of the international law and the international humanitarian law, and also shows disregard to the sanctity of human lives”.
The Biden White House insisted that they would carefully investigate the incident and make a statement once all the information has been disclosed.
Shortly after the Israeli forces’ attack, the UN’s Undersecretary for Humanitarian Affairs Martin Griffiths expressed his anger at the continuous targeting of civilians.
“Even after close to five months of brutal hostilities, Gaza still has the ability to shock us. I’m appalled at the reported killing and injury of hundreds of people during a transfer of aid supplies west of Gaza City today. This comes as the death toll across Gaza hits the 30,000 mark. Life is draining out of Gaza at terrifying speed.” he said.
The Independent/ The Guardian
